Thursday, 5/15/97 Myths, truths of college life undergo comedic
spin FILM: Stars of ‘Dead Man on Campus’ discuss their characters,
life lessons
By Aimee Phan Daily Bruin Staff "Is this fattening?" A concerned
Tom Everett Scott asks as he points to his grilled chicken and
mashed potatoes on his plate. During his lunch break on the set of
his new comedy, "Dead Man on Campus," the star of last year’s "That
Thing You Do" suddenly becomes worried about his eating habits in
front of the visiting journalists. "I don’t know any of that stuff.
I’m from New York, we kind of eat whatever’s closest to us." Across
the table, his co-star, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, whose jet-black hair
is in stark contrast with his blond days as Zach on "Saved by the
Bell," shakes his head, revealing his own lunch. His plate looks
almost identical to Scott’s. But while Scott and Gosselaar may
share the same taste in food, the similarities seem to end there.
Their characters in this latest film from MTV Productions are a
modern-day Odd Couple, with Scott playing an uptight scholar and
Gosselaar acting as a carefree rich kid. This is evident from their
clothing alone. While Scott is dressed in a modest green T-shirt
under a simple denim shirt, Gosselaar looks like the typical
preppie in a long-sleeved purple shirt and neatly pressed khakis.
When asked to describe the premise of "Dead Man on Campus," Scott
becomes goofy and assumes the storytelling mode, smiling like a
proud little boy who has finally won his family’s full attention.
"The story of ‘Dead Man on Campus’ goes a little something like
this," Scott says, pushing his voice an octave lower for effect.
"Nice guy named Josh Miller goes to a northeastern college as a
pre-med student. He’s very straight-laced, gonna buckle down and
study hard and really earn the scholarship that he received. He
meets his roommate Cooper (Gosselaar) who is from a wealthy
background and parties a lot and ends up distracting him. Both of
them are going to flunk out and they need to find a way to stay in
school." The characters’ friendship in the film is the center of
this college comedy, as the two seemingly opposite personalities
grow closer while partying and hatching a hair-brained scheme to
stay in school. "It’s a very odd-couple relationship," Scott
explains, as he and Gosselaar take turns talking so the other can
get a few bites of food in. "The comedy really comes from one being
so laid back and crazy while the other is very rigid and staying on
track. Mark-Paul’s character manages to coerce me into all these
crazy things. It’s kind of a formula duo kind of thing, like
(Walter) Matthau and (Jack) Lemmon, and it’s fun to be a part of
that." "I think Cooper is very loyal to the few people he hooks up
with," Gosselaar says, offering his own take on the friendship.
"Josh is the only guy that Cooper has ever felt close with and
Cooper genuinely likes Josh because they’re so different." And from
eating lunch with these two young actors, it’s obvious that the
bond their characters have on screen exists off screen as well, as
the two pretend to not be able to stand each other. When asked if
they have bonded in real life, Scott and Gosselaar playfully glare
in disgust at each other. "Usually we don’t talk to each other,"
Scott jokes. "This is the closest we’ve ever sat to each other,"
Gosselaar says in an over-serious tone. "We don’t do anything
together. I’ve been trying for weeks to get our trailers spread out
from each other, but I wake up every morning, and there he is."
Scott smiles angelically at this comment before continuing to dig
into his potatoes. In between bites, Scott conveniently evades the
issue of what exactly the loophole is that his and Gosselaar’s
characters discover. "That is a top-top secret issue where the
story is concerned," Scott says, resolving to keep mum on what the
old loophole is. "Not only will you be killed, I’ll be killed. If
not killed, then placed somewhere we don’t want to go like Iceland
or Detroit …" But it’s not hard to conclude what the loophole is
since most college students have probably heard of it before,
especially during finals week. It’s an old university myth that if
a student commits suicide, then the student’s roommate
automatically gets straight As for the semester, a compensation for
all the heartache and trauma they experienced. This morbid myth has
probably popped into most students’ minds as they bear down for
finals. While students may not really want their roommates to die,
it would be convenient: to be rid of a person who is probably
getting on one’s nerves anyway and get straight As for the quarter.
While Gosselaar has never gone to college (too busy playing college
students on television), Scott, who attended Syracuse University in
New York, understands the conflicts freshmen experience in college;
to study or to party. He remembers learning important life lessons
in college. "I learned how to tap a keg," Scott recalls
nostalgically. "And I also learned how to repair holes in my wall
with toothpaste so I wouldn’t be charged at the end of the year. An
upperclassman just handed down that knowledge to me." But on a more
serious note, Scott does value his college experience as teaching
him more about independence. "I learned about self-reliance and
being on your own," Scott says. "It’s like the halfway mark between
living at home and being out in the real world." Since Gosselaar’s
only experience of college life was through his "Saved by the Bell"
series and his NBC television movies, he admits he is a little
shocked at some of the college pranks that occur in the movie,
which he hears are very common in universities everywhere. "Since I
never went to college, there were a couple of scenes in the movie
that we were shooting that I thought were way over the top,"
Gosselaar says. "Like there was a scene (in which) somebody would
pull the fire alarm and everybody would come out in their underwear
and I thought, ‘No, that would never happen,’ but I guess it does."
As an actor with college experience, Scott is asked if the film
accurately portrays college life. He eagerly endorses his current
project. "This is exactly like real college," Scott swears, putting
his hand to his heart. "It’s just like college. If it isn’t, you
can come back, and we’ll do it again." He then drops the joking and
shrugs his shoulders, sheepishly. "I don’t know. It’s just a movie.
And I think it’s going to be a funny movie." FILM: "Dead Man on
Campus," starring Mark- Paul Gosselaar and Tom Everett Scott, opens
in September.